@ghosthoard Remember I threatened you with Wild from Please Perennial hanging out with other dead heroes?
***
When Wild opened his eyes, he had a sudden horrible moment of dislocation. He was lying down in a shallow pool, staring into a bright light. He didn't know where he was.
Just before he started to panic, a memory did seep back. It wasn't comforting, but it was better than nothing.
Pain, shouting, blood, movement, pain…
He whimpered, closing his eyes again.
"I think he's awake." The matter-of-fact voice of a young boy broke into his awareness and he opened his eyes again from sheer surprise.
Indeed, there was a boy leaning over him, round face framed with fair hair, bright-blue eyes wide and curious. Something about him seemed familiar, but Wild couldn't place it.
"Give him space, Lad," said another voice. Wild's heart jumped into his throat as he tracked the sound to see a dark-haired man just easing to his knees beside him. He gave Wild a friendly smile. "You probably have a lot of questions."
Wild blinked. "Wha…?" he managed.
"I'm Link, and this is Boromir," said the boy with a big grin.
Wild stared at him.
"Take your time," said Boromir quietly. "I know it's quite a change."
It certainly was. Wild swallowed hard as memories once again flickered around the edges of his awareness. "I… what…" He swallowed. His throat felt better than it had in… a while. His eyes went to the boy again. Another Link.
His breath caught.
He didn't want to think about his brothers.
"Where am I?" he asked tentatively.
"Well… that's a difficult question," said Boromir.
"You're dead," said Link frankly, though not unkindly.
Boromir winced, but nodded. "This place" - he gestured around - "Well, I suppose it's what I was taught to think of as the Halls of the Slain. Though it's not what I imagined."
Wild had died once before, of course, though he'd been brought back and didn't remember any of it. Not really.
"I'm dead?" he echoed.
They nodded.
At last, he tried to move. He wasn't restrained. It didn't hurt. Boromir reached out to help him sit up, but when he pulled away the man didn't push it.
Legend couldn't sleep. He couldn't seem to take his eyes off the little boy they had rescued. The fallen hero. He'd heard legends of the hero who had failed to defeat Ganon and whose failure had meant that, so many years later, Legend had had to pick up the pieces.
It had been hard enough to learn that he too had failed, leaving Hyrule to pick up after him. That had already shaken the poor opinion he had had of that hero from so long ago.
He hadn't expected to all at once find out that the fallen hero had been a child, that he had been the Old Man as a child, and that he had now been brought back to life.
"It's not your watch, Veteran," said Time, sitting down next to him.
Legend grunted softly, not looking away from the boy. He whimpered in his sleep, reaching out with a hand to grasp at the air. Beside Legend, Time flinched slightly.
"I don't know why I thought there was no chance I'd meet him," said Legend. "Hyrule met me, Wind and Twilight met you, why would I be different?"
Time didn't reply for a long moment, then he said quietly, "I'm sorry."
Legend finally tore his eyes away to stare at him. Time was looking at his hands clasped in his lap. He suddenly looked very young and vulnerable.
"You're sorry?" he echoed. "Wha- what for?"
Time sighed. "I suppose… I don't know if it's my fault."
Legend scoffed. "Of course it's not your fault. It's closer to being his fault than yours."
Time shook his head. "I don't know how any of this happened. After I discovered that one timeline continued after I left it, I find that there was another…"
"In which you died," finished Legend. "And now there's another in which you were saved." He shuffled closer so his elbow knocked against Time's. "I don't blame him," he said. "Not now I've seen him. And I definitely don't blame you."
Time sighed, looking at his hands again.
In front of them, the boy rolled over in his sleep, whimpering again. Time and Legend exchanged a glance, then Time got up and knelt down next to him, laying a hand on his shoulder and talking softly to him.
Legend couldn't take his eyes off them. He didn't know what to think about this. But he remembered being a child hero. He remembered looking death in the face before his voice had even dropped. From the perspective of his own life this boy had died. He had died and been remembered as a failure.
Now Legend and the others had brought him back. Had given him a chance to grow up after all and a family to do it in.
Legend sighed as he looked at Time and his little counterpart. They had given him back his life. The important thing now was to help him live it.
